Shifting Constellations: AI, Diasporas, and (a new) Future of Multilingualism

The accelerating interplay between global migration, digital technologies, and geopolitical instability is transforming language ecologies at unprecedented speed. For the humanities and social sciences, these shifts represent both crisis and opportunity: crisis, in the erosion of linguistic diversity and the consolidation of dominant languages through AI-mediated communication; opportunity, in the potential to revitalise multilingualism through new digital affordances and cross-cultural diasporic networks.

This talk brings together new diaspora theory, which I am presently exploring as a kind of transnational connectivity, fluid identity, and linguistic repertoires in relation to community schools, and Larissa Aronin’s dominant language constellation (DLC) framework (Lo Bianco and Aronin, 2020) which maps the structured hierarchies of languages individuals and communities use.   Dispersed but connected, multilingual but selectively so, and mobile but still grounded.  With these principles and inevitabilities, why is languages education struggling for public attention, funding and focus?  I will look into this ‘crisis’ as an opportunity, the ground is shifting rapidly and even as we know AI and Open Education models will not simply be technological disruptors but active agent in shaping language practices we must offer society a new and fresh framing of multilingualism. This new framing must retrieve the original intercultural and intersubjective purposes of compulsory languages education, both sociocultural inheritance and future innovation to secure social cohesion.

Drawing on new literature in multilingual policy, diaspora studies, and AI language modelling, I will make an optimistic call for a critical, participatory approach to language futures, I will argue for language teachers to develop sharper policy literacy, and for much more attention to shared citizenship.  Teachers of language need to partner with humanities and social sciences academics more closely to steer AI-era multilingualism toward equity, resilience, and cultural richness.

Biography

Joseph (Joe) Lo Bianco, AM, FAHA, is Professor Emeritus in language and literacy, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne.  He held the position of Chair Professor of Language Literacy Education from his appointment as Professor at the University of Melbourne in February 2004.  In 1987, he authored Australia’s first national language policy, recognised as Australia’s first, and also the first comprehensive multilingual policy in the world, and between 1990 and 2002 was Director of Language Australia/The National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia.  He was elected President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2012, the first educator to serve in this role.  Professor Lo Bianco retired from the position at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education in June 2020 and was appointed Professor Emeritus of the University.

His academic specialisation is in language policy analysis, accompanied by an extensive track record in language policy advising. These assignments have concerned minority language rights, literacy and social opportunity, language policy and planning with a specific interest in conflict mitigation in multi-ethnic societies in Southeast Asia, educational equity for immigrant and Indigenous populations, multilingual and anti-racist education and language revitalisation.  

His academic analysis and theorization of language problems in education and society is complemented by real-world policy writing, advising and engagement in 25 international locations.  In recent years this has included a 12-year project in Southeast Asia for UNICEF under the title of Language, Education and Social Cohesion, focusing on conflict resolution in multi-ethnic settings in Malaysia, Myanmar and South Thailand and as consultant to a six-year project on Multilingual Cities in 12 European municipalities responding to recent inflows of immigrants.   Through this work he has pioneered a form of language problem solving called the Facilitated Dialogue which transforms public policy processes into realistic solutions and advances the notion of language rights.  

Recent publications include

Lo Bianco, Loh, Shum, (2024), Supporting Chinese as a Second Language Learners, Springer

Lo Bianco, Lundberg, Spolsky, (2025), Language Policy & Planning: Review of Research, Bloomsbury

Helal & Lo Bianco, (2025), Language Politics in Tunisia: A Study of Language Debates, Multilingual Matters

Lo Bianco (2025) What Kind of Linguistics is Language Policy and Language Planning?  Contemporary Linguistics, Bradley et al, Brill.

Wijesekera and Lo Bianco (2026) Sri Lankan Lessons: Bilingual Education, Identity Formation and Peacebuilding. Springer.